EF1 Tornado — Perry, Alabama

2020-04-12 · near Levert, Perry, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Perry County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph.

A tornado formed along County Road 9 about four miles north of the Sprott community in northern Perry County. The tornado tracked northeast and caused extensive tree damage along County Road 2, where the tornado strengthened to a maximum intensity of 100 mph. The Mount Pleasant Freewill Baptist Church had a portion of its roof removed, and the adjacent fellowship hall was destroyed. A short distance to the northeast, the tornado dissipated near Hodgens Road.

Wider weather episode

An upper-level low over the southwest United States evolved into a negatively-tilted shortwave trough as it moved over the southeastern United States. A warm front steadily moved northward during the morning and afternoon hours on Sunday, April 12. This allowed an unstable air mass to move northward and overspread much of the region. At the same time, very strong wind shear developed over Alabama as the upper trough neared the state.

An initial wave of severe storms affected areas near and north of Interstate 20, involving tornadoes, damaging straight-line winds, and some hail. Through the evening, a second wave of thunderstorms affected the remaining areas of Central Alabama with tornadoes and damaging straight-line winds. Flooding also resulted from training rainfall near and north of Interstate 20. Some roads became impassible or were washed out. This weather event was large in scope and produced severe weather from Oklahoma and Texas, through the southeastern United States, then up the east coast to New York.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.7317, -87.2012)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 887617. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.